A who's who of veteran shows and critical darlings filled out the rest of the list, some for the first time. 'The Good Wife,' 'Parks,' 'Louie,' and 'Justified' are all brand new entries to AFI's year-end list.

Showtime's 'Homeland' and HBO's 'Game of Thrones' were the only new 2011 shows to make the list.

After a seemingly slamdunk case ends in a guilty verdict, the Lockhart/Gardner team goes into overdrive to find out what happened in the jury room.

Following several trips to the button lady, an arrest, a wonderful scene between Alicia and Kalinda (more on that below) and multiple visits to the judge, our hero defense attorney saved the day. How? Because the judge friended a jury. Darn that Facebook Facebranch!

Michael J. Fox, Jennifer Carpenter and John Michael Higgins (he was freed from 'Happily Divorced' for a hot second!) all sat around in a room with Alicia for much of the episode. MJF turned in an understated performance, in a good way. Carpenter was pretty convincing as a uber Christian professor trying to get her job back and a far cry from potty-mouthed Deb Morgan. Quite refreshing. JMH fit the role of greedy arbitrator nicely.

For the first time in a while, the case of the week wasn't overly complicated, nor did it have to contend with an action-packed installment of the Eli Gold show. It had space to grow. It wasn't the most compelling, but that's OK.

Once again, Ryan McGee and I have recorded two podcasts for your listening pleasure.

In the first podcast, we talk about what we're digging about three lady-centric shows: 'The Good Wife,' 'New Girl' and 'Suburgatory.' As I said in a piece I posted earlier today, which re-examines several shows that debuted this fall, 'Suburgatory' has taken a big leap forward in quality and tonight's Thanksgiving episode is well worth a look.

We also did a separate podcast delving into Tuesday's shocking episode of 'Sons of Anarchy,' which I wrote about here.

You know what we're talking about -- those shows or televised events that are just too horrific for even our "worst" lists of the year.

We've picked our top turkeys, included proof of poultry, and ranked them on a gobble-meter scale of 1-10, 1 being the least offensive or surprising in terms of suckiness, and 10 being scream-at-your-TV-in-anger levels of suck that we hope we never have to endure again.

Take a look at our list, then chime in down in the comments with your own top picks for the bottom of the barrel.

It was old home week on 'The Good Wife' last night. I don't know about you, but I did a little jig of glee when I saw that Patrick Breen and Linda Emond were back as Capt. Terrence Hicks and Judge Loera Kuhn. When they appeared in a crackling season 2 episode, I wrote at the time that I'd happily watch a military-law spin-off starring those two characters.

(By the way, I just want to say hello to all our 'Good Wife' regulars. I'm filling in as Lockhart Gardner recapper for my co-worker Chris Harnick, who will be back on the case next week. I hope I do as good a job as Chris does at chronicling the weekly 'Good Wife' maneuvers, legal and otherwise).

I woudn't say that 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot's' case was quite as gripping as the firm's last military trial -- there was so much going on in this week's episode that the main case felt a little undercooked, as it were, and we barely got to know the young woman at the center of it.

The Situation will play himself, and we can't wait to see him and Noah (Alan Tudyk) compare tans. The 'Jersey Shore' star will somehow end up in the suburbs, where he'll serve as the fist-pumping DJ at Tessa's (Jane Levy) school dance.

Carrie Preston describes herself as a chameleon actress, and for good reason. Known for serving up drinks with a side of sass as Arelne on HBO's 'True Blood,' Preston has used her hiatus from the popular vampire series to book a series of dramatic roles on top network shows.

After a recent stop on 'The Good Wife,' in which she received raved reviews (both AOL TV and EW thought she deserved an Emmy nomination), Preston will next be seen on NBC's 'Law & Order: SVU.'

In 'Educated Guess' (Wed., Nov. 16, 10PM ET on NBC), Preston plays Bella, the aunt of a troubled young woman, Gia, played by Natasha Lyonne. Bella and her husband George (Tim Guinee) took in Bella's sister, Diane (J. Smith Cameron) and Gia after some family problems.

"All the series regulars are wonderful on this show and it was really fun having these guest stars to share the experience with," Preston told AOL TV.

So, is her 'SVU' character like Arlene or her 'Good Wife' character Elsbeth Tascioni? Not so much, Preston said.

"She's much more uptight and has some co-dependency issues and some controlling issues, I think," Preston said.

Find out what else the 'SVU' guest star had to say about working on the show, her future on 'The Good Wife' and what's next on 'True Blood' below. Plus, exclusive first-look video of Preston in action with the 'SVU' detectives.

Some of the best episodes of 'The Good Wife' have been when Lockhart/Gardner is racing against the clock to achieve a goal, think 'Nine Hours,' a standout of Season 2. However, that wasn't the case with 'Death Row Tip.'

Alicia and Justin (Romany Malco) rushed to get a stay of execution for a man guilty of some vicious crimes. He had info, the name of a man who committed murders one of their clients was accused of, but that came at a price.

Thank you. Thank you for returning to 'The Good Wife' and making me laugh harder than I ever have during an episode of this fantastic drama. Please return soon.

This recap could easily turn into a love letter to Preston, but I'll try and keep that to a minimum. Her character, Elsbeth Tascioni, returned to help Alicia out of a potential prison sentence and in doing so became the most entertaining guest star this show has seen in a long while, maybe ever.

Just going to put this out there right now: Please let Parker Posey come back to 'The Good Wife.'

'The Good Wife' seems to have gotten its groove back after stumbling out of the gate with the first few episodes of Season 3. In 'Affairs of State,' Alicia and Caitlin worked to protect their client from rape and murder charges as the State Department went back and forth about his diplomatic immunity to the benefit of Cary. Meanwhile, Eli used Kalinda to vet his ex-wife, Vanessa (Posey), who wanted to run for political office.

For producers of underperforming television shows, this is the scariest time of the year -- and it's got nothing to do with Halloween specials. By now, the glow of premiere season has long since worn off, and shows we couldn't wait to see just a few short months ago are in serious danger of getting the hook.

Truth be told, the majority of broadcast shows are floating precariously atop the cancellation bubble. A world without 'Fringe'? An NBC Thursday night without 'Community'? Folks, it could happen.

Take NBC: the struggling network is aggressively developing new shows, desperate for a hit. Can old standbys like 'Parks and Recreation' survive when big dogs Sarah Silverman and Dane Cook are all developing new shows at the Peacock network?

A few notches away on the dial, CBS's 'CSI' franchise is starting to fizzle and the network has its eye on new comedies. With three different 'CSI' shows, it's safe to say one will probably go.

Who will survive this season? Only time will tell, but any of these shows could be goners by May.

'Once Upon a Time' has worked ratings magic for ABC. The fairy tale drama from the writers of 'Lost' debuted to 12.8 million viewers with a strong 3.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

'Big Love' star Ginnifer Goodwin and 'House' veteran Jennifer Morrison star in 'Once Upon a Time,' a drama where fairy tale characters exist, but are trapped in the real world. As always, the real test is to see how the show does in week 2.

'Desperate Housewives' got a boost thanks to 'Once' and pulled in 9.2 million viewers and a 3.0 in the 18-49 demographic. 'Pan Am' was steady at 5.8 million total viewers and a 1.8 rating.